“On June 10, it will have been five years since Apple first showed off the iteration of the Mac Pro that has come to be known as The Trashcan,” Stephen Hackett writes for 512 Pixels. “To put that in a little context, it was the same WWDC keynote where iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks were introduced.”
“After playing a very exciting video showing off the product, Phil Schiller quipped, ‘Can’t innovate anymore, my ass,’ as he walked across the stage to applause,” Hackett writes. “It was a push back against critics who were saying Apple had gotten lazy and its products stale.”
MacDailyNews Take: We pause to retrieve a knife with which to cut the irony.
“2014 came and went without a revision to the machine, then 2015 did the same,” Hackett writes. “As this was going on, Mac Pro customers started complaining of GPU failures. In February 2016, Apple opened a Repair Program for the machine… ‘Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider will repair eligible Mac Pro models affected by the video issues free of charge until May 30, 2018. Apple lists a turnaround time of about 3-5 days.’ Ironically, that date just passed. Even with the GPU issues, Apple failed to revise the computer in any way.”
“As I write this, the Mac Pro is still on Apple’s website, and can still be purchased. That blows my mind a little,” Hackett writes. “I have to imagine Apple is bleeding money on building this computer today. It has to be on sale still to meet the needs of corporate customers who have standardized on the machine. Maybe there are still customers who workflows are built around the OpenCL power that still resides under its black aluminum skin. Maybe the Apple.com team lost the password needed to edit that part of the company’s website.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In the annals of Glorious Apple Failures, the Mac Pro is doing its damnedest to earn top billing.
There is simply no excuse for a company swimming in a lake of cash atop a mountain range of money to not have every single product they offer, including their top-of-the-line flagship Mac, up-to-date and state-of-the-art at all times. If even Dell et al. can manage it, why the hell can’t Apple?
A team of interns with petty cash could come up with a Mac tower in 6 months or less that Mac professionals would line up to buy in droves.
We’re going to operate on the idea that Apple was so consumed by The Colossal Distraction (Apple Park) that even such obvious issues fell through the cracks because the alternative, that Apple’s management team has become so fat and lazy without Steve Jobs to drive them that they’ll let even their flagship Mac languish for half a decade, is too horrifying to contemplate.
SEE ALSO:
3 things to expect from Apple’s 2019 Mac Pro – April 11, 2018
Why can’t Apple keep their products up-to-date? – April 10, 2018
Why is it taking Apple so long to update the Mac Pro? – April 10, 2018
Apple’s latest announcements about the modular Mac Pro really ramp up expectations – April 6, 2018
Apple needs to stop promising new products and start delivering them – April 6, 2018
Apple: No new Mac Pro until 2019 – April 5, 2018
Apple reiterates they’re working on an all-new modular, upgradeable Mac Pro and a high-end pro display – December 14, 2017
Why Apple’s promise of a new ‘modular’ Mac Pro matters so much – April 6, 2017
Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro was flexible, expandable, and powerful – imagine that – April 6, 2017
More about Apple’s Mac Pro – April 6, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – April 4, 2017
Apple’s apparent antipathy towards the Mac prompts calls for macOS licensing – March 27, 2017
Why Apple’s new Mac Pro might never arrive – March 10, 2017
Dare we hold out hope for the Mac Pro? – March 1, 2017
Apple CEO Cook pledges support to pro users, says ‘we don’t like politics’ at Apple’s annual shareholders meeting – February 28, 2017
Yes, I just bought a ‘new’ Mac Pro (released on December 19, 2013 and never updated) – January 4, 2017
Attention, Tim Cook! Apple isn’t firing on all cylinders and you need to fix it – January 4, 2017
No, Apple, do not simplify, get better – December 23, 2016
Rare video shows Steve Jobs warning Apple to focus less on profits and more on great products – December 23, 2016
Marco Arment: Apple’s Mac Pro is ‘very likely dead’ – December 20, 2016
How Tim Cook’s Apple alienated Mac loyalists – December 20, 2016
Apple’s not very good, really quite poor 2016 – December 19, 2016
Apple’s software has been anything but ‘magical’ lately – December 19, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Rush Limbaugh: Is Apple losing their edge? – December 9, 2016
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Apple may have finally gotten too big for its unusual corporate structure – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016
Apple’s disgracefully outdated, utterly mismanaged Mac lineup is killing sales – October 13, 2016
Apple takes its eye off the ball: Why users are complaining about Apple’s software – February 9, 2016
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015
Unfortunately, we must contemplate this.
Can’t innovate or won’t innovate?
Lack of:
Resources?
Money?
Talent?
Interest?
Hmmmmm, I wonder which one.
Leadership.
Lack of not wanting to kill it. 🙂
My Apple Innovation Report Card
iPhone: A+
iPad: A-
AppleTV hardware: B-
AppleTV content: C-
HomePod: C+
MacBook: B
MacBookPro: A (you may not like the product, but at least Apple was trying to innovate with new screen tech, new battery tech, touchbar, new Keyboard tech, and fingerprint reader)
MacMini: C-
MacPro: D
Apple Education: C
I agree with MDN’s take, with their kind of money and talent, nothing in Apple’s lineup should score less than a B, except maybe briefly, between product transitions.
What’s your take?
the iMac is darn good too.
if they would make an iMac with 3 doors on the back to update the ram, to update the HD, and one to update the ssd and a slot on the side for an SD card it would be perfect.
I really honestly believe that today with most CPUs and GPUs, a memory and storage upgrade is all you need for a 5 to 8 lifespan of a computer for most people. I also think that an iMac with a 1tb m.2 ssd with a 3-4 TB hdd is more storage than most need. Video professionals may need a different set up but even today a “tricked out” iMac (not even the iMac pro) is one heck of a video machine. Unless you are full time, all day into video production, that machine will do just fine.
The iMac as a consumer system, if it had the “doors” you suggest would be a great system. Without them it is barely an OK system — at least for the currently shipping version.
The “iMac Pro” being similarly closed is a joke. At the top of the line it is a beast, but it is a beast of a joke for true pros.
iMac is without a doubt the most bang for the buck Mac.
But no desktop Mac should prevent you from swapping out the HD or the RAM. The fact that the iMac Pro does not allow that is beyond stupid.
Size, weight, & power consumption should not be the primary concerns in designing any desktop machine! Mini or not.
pretty generous assessment
I just checked Newegg and a 1tb m.2 ssd costs less than $300 and a 4tb hdd costs below $150. That’s nothing to a professional. OWC’s prices are a little bit higher. 32gb of ram at crucial is expensive right now at $450 but still, that’s not a whole lot if it helps you.
I agree with most of your grades except the MacBook Pro…the battery life sucks. Don’t tell me I get 10 hours of battery life on a pro device and I end up getting about 3 when I’m running Logic Pro X. That right there brings me down to a low B range.
And honestly the touch bar is something I could definitely live without. I would never pay a higher price for something that I hardly use.
I recently purchased a 2016 MBP 15″ and have no complaints about the battery life, it has been excellent. Replaced a 2008 cheese grater and 2012 MBP, got tired of messing with 2 systems.
Touch Bar is meh, but at least Apple was trying something new, versus the MacMini and MacPro where they aren’t trying anything at all.
Also think Apple should offer entry level MacBooks with the option of standard Fusion HDs, their SSDs drive the laptop prices to exorbitant heights. Could never afford one on my personal budget.
Also AppleWatch should get an “A” IMHO.
Ridiculous grade inflation on your part.
MacMini: F
Mac Pro: F
iPod Touch: F
AppleTV content: D-
I up voted your post.
but to give the original poster a benefit of a doubt, he could mean that the MP was a ‘D’ ‘at LAUNCH’. But it was a already an ‘F’ two years ago.
the real sad thing that the MP and the Mini etc are EASY things to solve as compared to things like the self driving car. (Hackintosh folks have made powerful towers for years)
Hey we can CONSOLE ourselves with the Wonderful Apple COFFEE TABLE BOOK :
the Verge : ” tightly bound pages are edged in silver; the paper is Apple-specific Heaven 42 Scheufelen from Germany — as is the Bamberger Kaliko linen with bespoke dye. ”
I end with reminder of the one and half years they spent on the CAMPUS door handles, the ‘specially milled Maple’ furniture and as Wired asked Ive about all the fancy stuff on the Campus:
WIRED:
Ive raises an eyebrow. “Well,” he says. “It depends how you define need, doesn’t it?””
———–
Synth, I’d drop every one of your grades by at least a half a grade. I’d drop the HomePod, AppleTV hardware, Mac mini, and Mac Pro by at least a full grade or more. (And yes, I know that would put the Mac Pro at a lower grade than an “F”.)
I still think the iPhone, iPad, and AppleWatch deserve “As” but everything else I could easily be swayed with a full letter-grade drop.
Good idea, Synth. My marks for Apple today are significantly lower than they were a decade ago on all fronts. But of course that won’t change as long as Cook is pleasing wall street. In terms of product innovation, Apple is regressing badly.
– iPhone: B+ due to 4″ models being treated like stepchildren, inconsistency in display ratios, iOS limitations, poor I/O, no way to wire it to a MacBook or an external display without a mess of adapters, and zero progress in iOS store discovery and filtering. Memory is wildly overpriced.
– iPad: B- for same issues as above, and aging models, mini being treated like a dog, lack of consistent feature set across the board. Apple Pencil remains an awkward extra with poor charging and storage forethought, Apple spent zero effort on making it work as input device or accessory display for the Mac.
– Apple TV: C- while 4k hardware is finally here, interface remains poor. remote is the worst in the industry. No local storage, no Tivo-like functionality, poor integration with legacy equipment (no audio output, for example). Too limited, app management is not a good way to serve up video.
– Homepod: C- audio management software may be new and great but usability and interoperability stink. Does not replace a real sound system or home theater
– MacBook: C- one port Mac with horrid keyboard. enough said.
– MacBook Pro: B- since the keyboard sucks, there is no 17″ model, performance by all objective measures is significantly behind Wintel boxes, repairability is atrocious, no ethernet or legacy USB port to be found. No points added or detracted for the gimmick bar which has not found widespread support — even Apple hasn’t put any effort into putting that feature into its newest iMac Pro keyboard, what does that tell you?
– MacMini: D because the high price, antiquated specs, and feature degradation since 2012 is an insult to users.
– MacPro: D because this is the new MacMini, obsolete when introduced and still an embarrassment to power computing in these 5 years of Apple managerial incompetence.
– iMac: B it’s very good for those who can accept an all-in-one and don’t every want to repair or upgrade anything. Could be an A if it was user upgradeable, was height adjustable, and had option of matching second display, ports in front where they are visible, and other minor obvious tweaks that the kids in Cupertino can’t seem to realize.
– Apple Education: E there is no such thing. iPads don’t cut it.
– iPods: C- stale and overdue for updates across the board.
– Apple Watch: B- very limited usability but now the 3rd generation does work as advertised
– iCloud: C slow, more limited and costly than the competition, no guarantee of security or privacy, only vague promises.
– software: between B and D – it is no longer leaps and bounds ahead of Microsoft apps. Seriously, could Apple make iTunes any less elegant and intuitive if it tried?
– Accessories: F Apple has gone from making top notch displays and routers and backup storage to making watch bands and overpriced iPhone cases and ugly white adapters. Not cool.
Since you asked for an Apple Innovation Report Card…
iPhone: C+
iPad: C-
AppleTV hardware: C-
AppleTV content: D
HomePod: C-
MacBook: B-
MacBookPro: D
MacMini: F
MacPro: F-
Apple Education: F
…and FYI, my grades are based on both being a longtime customer as well as a stockholder: I’m watching for the Apple Stock price to do a ‘melt-up’ (yes, its a Market term; look it up) and then sell before it craps into the dumpster as Apple pulls a Sony.
———–
In an ironic coincidence, I happened to walk by one of my guys yesterday who was talking with one of our gaming developer contractors – he had just mentioning that he was looking at bringing his personal development PC into work to copy some stuff over to solve one of the problems we were having in development; what I heard of the tail end of their hardware conversation was that his PC included:
i9 CPU
dual 1TB M.2 SSDs
dual 4K monitors
Reportedly $10K and compiles his Unreal stuff in ~15 minutes while his prior (and work-issued) PC took 80+ minutes. He did note that the R/W cycles on the compiles are rough on the SSDs and that he burns through the provisioning on them, so he replaces them every 12 months.
And of course, when I mentioned Apple, he literally just laughed.
Yes, laughed.
And he’s 100% right for doing so.
June 10, 2013 was the day I knew that Apple’s management team had lost its way.
– iOS7 was an ugly unusable mess
– FatAss Schiller presented a Mac Pro that solved no problems and introduced many
– Mavericks was a GUI iOSification – a major step back, with zero usability or efficiency improvements, at a time when the Apple file system architecture had fallen years behind Windows 7. To this day the Mac is a flat gray screen with unintuitive features hidden or pushed back into the Terminal.
Well it’s nice you finally agree with me how bad Apple has mismanaged the Mac.
Spot on from the very beginning, Mike. Take a bow.
What did it for me are the same two items that top your list. Visually flat and navigation confusing iOS7. And the artsy fartsy non-innovation locked down expensive MacPro. That’s why you don’t promote the industrial design chief to head all aspects of design. Different professions, different disciplines, different needs.
Breaking news to cocky Phil SHILLer: innovation in design is only part of the equation and skin deep. Performance, upgradability are far more important and I will take that over looks ANY DAY of the week.
Prime example was the Pontiac Fiero that won Time magazine “car of the year” in 1984. What a hot looking head turner body of a car — but it failed miserably because of what was inferior under the exterior.
As the author said, even Dell does a better job upgrading computers year after year.
WTF, Apple ?!?!? 🤬
Apple management relegates Mac techs to an inferior status and prestige, favoring everything iPhone. That attitude permeates the rank and file’s development crew and disincentivises innovation on Mac.
Courtesy of Clueless Cook, no doubt. For as large as the company is related to the world’s finest office digs in history, manpower and largest cash pile in the world — simply, NO EXCUSE …
And Steve “Milk the Mac” Jobs
I think Apple wanted to knife the Desktop Mac excepting the iMac and still will if they can get away with it.
Other than the use of EFI, there is really nothing that separates a Mac from a generic white box PC. Any gamer PC is fully capable of running Apple’s Desktop /Laptop OS. Had Apple assigned any priority to the market they could have shipped something in very short order.
I believe that Apple released the Black iMac hoping it would shut up the calls for a new Mac desktop with no intention of ever again building a Mac Pro.
Yes, perhaps management felt that MacPro reached the end of any significant level of innovation since pros. were demanding that it be almost like a Dell pro.
For five years I have always advocated here the new MacPro should be the baddest and fastest PC the world has ever seen. And why or why they cannot attract gamers is a mystery to me. They only care about gaming APPS on portable devices? …
That would be nice, of course, but its clientele is likely an ever shrinking segment of the pro market which – spiritually if you will – Apple is not motivated to cater. I suspect that it regards the MacPro as a millstone round its neck but it has to drag it along for the few.
“clientele is likely an ever shrinking segment of the pro market”
Have any hard numbers?
I suspect the pro market is shrinking, if it is, for three reasons:
1. They have not upgraded the pro computer for five friggin’ years, so Pros were forced to Hackintosh and PCs.
2. Tim Cook doesn’t care because he only uses pads, watch and phone and more concerned about Wall Street and the iPhone cash cow.
3. See number 1 and 2.
“Apple is not motivated to cater.”
See number 2.
“I suspect that it regards the MacPro as a millstone round its neck but it has to drag it along for the few.”
During the early years all Apple made were pro computers somewhat. Then they diversified the computer line and it did not trouble Cook until Steve passed and the trashcan was not well received — even more so today …
There were many demands on Apple employees over those five years. Countless gay pride parades with the need to spend time putting costumes together. Then the next wave of Trans Pride parades and the need for more innovative costumes. These things are priorities. So why does a Trashcan need to be updated, anyway, when we have gerbils to feed and rubber to convert into fashion statements.
Kent, could you send us a link to a cultural event formally sanctioned by Apple for the employees to leave work to attend? Any one will do. If you cannot, then stfu. What Apple employees do in their personal time is their freedom.
Your casual discrimination tells everyone more about you than it does in pinpointing the Apple management problem. A real libertarian would live and let live.
Kent is simply pointing out Apple’s liberal direction under Cook. Only a Libtard would bog down in semantic details and also accuse him of discrimination where NONE EXISTS. Too easy, CX. New screen name reply in 3…2…1…
Stop, just stop.
If you cannot detect the crass derogatory judgment in kent’s discriminatory post, then you owe it to yourself to think through it more. Would kent be so critical of Apple employees if they actually did take off work to attend NRA rallies, or spent significant time at work blogging pro-Trump propaganda? No, those time wasters would be honky dory with you and kent.
Meanwhile the entire Mac lineup is an underperforming joke thanks to BAD MANAGEMENT. Don’t talk shit about the employees, they are doing what they are told to do.
“If you cannot detect the crass derogatory judgment in kent’s discriminatory post, then you owe it to yourself to think through it more.”
I can assure you, I can detect most things. And absolutely not Sarah, calling it like it is NOT “discriminatory.” That is the first or second word used by the PC police. The other being racist.
I was simply explaining it in more genteel terms. Could he have put it more tactfully, absolutely. But that’s not up to you or I to decide.
“Would kent be so critical of Apple employees if they actually did take off work to attend NRA rallies, or spent significant time at work blogging pro-Trump propaganda?”
Can’t speak for Kent, I can only speak for myself. I am just as critical of Apple whether it is supporting the NRA or NOW. Jobs stayed clear of politics because it pisses off one tribe or another. BAD for business.
“Meanwhile the entire Mac lineup is an underperforming joke thanks to BAD MANAGEMENT.”
Now we AGREE 100%!
“Don’t talk shit about the employees, they are doing what they are told to do.”
I have no problem with the employees, where did that come from? Bad management is my number one problem with Apple and agree employees are paid to do what their bosses tell them.
Now, relax … 😊
You left out Ive’s coffee table book. Had you included it, your screed would have been less anti-SJW.
“Maybe the Apple.com team lost the password needed to edit that part of the company’s website.”
LMAO!!! When it comes to the Mac Pro, Apple is profoundly embarrassing. What a truly pathetic effort from Tim Cook, Phil Shiller, and the entire executive team.
Since the height of Apple’s credibility in the professional space back almost 17 years ago (back when Oracle was telling people to buy Xserve rather than any other system and people used Apple systems to create the third fastest super computer on the planet, etc.) respect for Apple’s products is nearly at an all time low. The only thing really saving Apple in the true pro space is the MacBook Pro and that’s not doing that well. (And, don’t even try to convince anyone that the iMac Pro has enhanced Apple’s reputation with the high end pro community.)
There is absolutely NO excuse for Apple to be working on a new Mac Pro for more than two years before it ships in quantity (definitely Q1 2019 or later, maybe as late as Q4 2019). What is Apple waiting on? PCIe 4.0 support in Xeon chips? Optaine DC support? Thunderbolt 4? Ethernet at 100 Gbps? An optical variant of 801.11ad? Holographic displays? In brain implants?
Apple, what is it keeping you moving so insanely slowly in your “upcoming” Mac Pro?
It seems to me that Apple is in profound internal turmoil over direction. And it seems to be waiting for some still unavailable component, as you speculate, that will have to be top notch that it deems essential to produce a super duper MacPro for the big reveal; Anything short of that will produce punishing comments on MDN and in general media making Apple look like a laughing stock. So maybe that’s where the bottleneck is: Fear of failure to produce a satisfying product that will delight pros and semi-pros.
Don’t ascribe to “turmoil” what can be explained by mere incompetence and apathy.
A new MacPro should have been here at least a year ago.
And the iMac Pro should have frickin’ replaceable RAM and HDs.
And a port or two on the front or side which show some regard for usability!
Exactly right. I would love to hear Cook’s explanation why these personal computer upgrades are NOT possible …
We both could be right; Incompetence and apathy by a lazy part of Apple and ambitiousness from another part could lead to turmoil.
The quotes in this article are spot on and absolutely priceless:
“While I appreciate Apple’s honesty about the process of building the next Mac Pro, there is a frustration around why designing what may essentially be a tower PC is taking so long.”
PC guys do this EVERY year, hello Apple hello?
“There is simply no excuse for a company swimming in a lake of cash atop a mountain range of money to not have every single product they offer, including their top-of-the-line flagship Mac, up-to-date and state-of-the-art at all times. If even Dell et al. can manage it, why the hell can’t Apple?”
Absolutely NO rational excuse citing resource reasons. The only excuse I’ll accept is irrational bad management. And possibly some posters are right about letting the pro line computer die a slow death. We saw it with the quick deaths of Apple pro software, monitors, printers, routers, etc. over the years.
“A team of interns with petty cash could come up with a Mac tower in 6 months or less that Mac professionals would line up to buy in droves.”
Not hard to believe if PC makers already figured it out with much less resources and name recognition.
“We’re going to operate on the idea that Apple was so consumed by The Colossal Distraction (Apple Park) that even such obvious issues fell through the cracks because the alternative, that Apple’s management team has become so fat and lazy without Steve Jobs to drive them that they’ll let even their flagship Mac languish for half a decade, is too horrifying.”
I’ll buy the Steve Jobs angle because I doubt the touchy feely SJW Timid Tim does not have the same moxie. He would rather form a focus group instead and order vegetables for lunch. Also agree the spaceship was somewhat of a distraction, like pride parades, watch bands, music, television that are not of A quality.
I’ll give you another year, Apple. If the MacPro disappoints or is delayed again — my trip to the dark side will be COMPLETE.
Apple owner since my Lisa …
Apple put an accountant in charge. That never works.
Apple has become Microsoft. What we need is a new Apple, and a new Steve Jobs.
I’ll gladly second that …
Apple has become Microsoft.. I used to think statements like that were harsh and cynical, but now I think they’re self-evidently true. But is that a bad thing? Rare geniuses ought to be appreciated while they thrive, and lamented when they are gone, but such star-crossed events happen once in a lifetime. Tesla, Edison, and Steinmetz could not be replaced. Regression to the mean happens whether we wish it or not. I hardly expect a run-of-the-mill board of directors to keenly discern the next Steve Jobs and recruit him (or her). Instead, they would dully, and dutifully, ratify a dying Steve Jobs’s recommendation to promote Tim Cook to permanent CEO. And, BODs being what they are — representatives of their shareholders’ best interests — thereafter they look only at the numbers. When they do that, Tim Cook receives their vote of confidence; complaints from niche users are confidently brushed off. The voice of the pro user, who wants to keep using Macs, is a voice in the wilderness, shouting to be heard despite a flood of sales to millenial consumers of mobile devices. It’s an ugly world and the Lord knows it’s unfair, but we made our own bed and we are fain laith to lay in’t.
I never thought after my Lisa and a Pro user since Day One in the 1980s I would be kicked to curb as one of “niche users.”
If Apple has become Microsoft as you say, then Microsoft can take my Pro money for a BETTER computer. Gawd, it really hurts to say that. But I’m waiting on Apple until 2019 to pull the trigger.
I agree with you, as long as the money is green selling gazillion gadgets the BOD will not move on the money train caretaker CEO who is about as creative as wet particle board.
At the moment, they are all fixated on the Trillion Dollar company moniker thing and that’s fine.
But I need to get work done, now …
Am I the only person that actually gets good performance out of mine? I’m getting 6 streams of 4K video over thunderbolt 2 raid without optimizing or creating proxy files. Don’t anticipate needing more anytime soon.
Here are just a few problems:
1) Apple issued a one-size-fits-all design that CANNOT be optimized for the many different use cases. GPU configuration, PCI card addition, and so forth were all huge misses.
2) The form factor doesn’t work for many users, especially those with other rack-mounted equipment.
3) How many years ago was Thunderbolt 3 released? Still not implemented.
4) Internal hard drives. Why aren’t there any provisions for onboard storage expansion?
5) Cooling system was dramatically underengineered.
6) In five years, what significant improvements have been implemented? New CPUs and GPUs have come on the market every year but the supposedly most powerful Mac is stuck in the mud. Current PCs run circles around it.
7) Price.
Be happy with it if it works acceptably for your needs. The 2013 Mac Pro, like all things Apple under Cook’s product mismanagement, doesn’t keep up with the competition in performance or versatility. That is why nobody in power computing circles is impressed with it.
Spot on list …
What works for you is inadequate for many others, and too much for many. It has to be a sales disaster.
Apple designed the Trashcan for a very narrow segment. It might have been OK if Apple would have rounded out the lineup with what Apple truly needs: servers, workstations, mid range towers, iMacs, and up to date minis, not to mention modern laptops running current chipsets. The pace of computer tech progress hasn’t slowed that dramatically, Apple simply stopped trying to give its customers the best products.
No, you’re not the only one. Most of the folks in the Mac Pro world are like you… they’re quietly getting their work done. New PC’s come and go, but as long as you can get your work done, and make your money, the performance “over there” doesn’t matter.
The reality is that:
1) Apple issued a one-size-fits-all design that fits the need of 90% of the pros that need more juice than is offered in a laptop (and, to be sure, the VAST majority of pros are satisfied by their mobile devices). This means that some folks will be left out. Oh well. Luckily there are other better platforms for those that need the ultimate in compatibility/expandability.
2) The reality is Apple doesn’t make a LOT of form factors. Apple doesn’t make a toughbook type product. They also don’t make a Raspberry Pi type product. They make something that you use and enjoy, that’s what matters.
3) Thunderbolt 3 is not implemented in a product that was released before it was a reality. Yes. That is true, but you and thousands of others are still able to use what you bought to get work done. Amazing, eh?
4) You understand that it doesn’t matter where your storage is, as long as it is storing your stuff.
5) For someone getting work done, the technical aspects of cooling doesn’t even factor into it. It’s cooling good enough for you.
6) Current PCs run circles around the Mac Pro. But you’re getting acceptable performance from what you have. And don’t anticipate needing more. That means that, regardless of how fast PC’s get, that neither concerns you nor limits you. That’s a good place to be in 🙂
7) You’re a professional. Making professional money. You’ve paid for the Mac Pro already from the jobs you’ve done and you find that the current performance isn’t really limiting you. So, something you bought years ago is proving to be a good investment.
Power computing circles… those are REALLY really really tiny circles. To you, it really doesn’t matter that they’re not impressed. Your job isn’t to impress power computing circles, it’s to finish your current job and start working on the next one. You are just the reality that some folks don’t want to believe exists. Because the more they believe that a 5 year old computer can be “enough” for a pro making money, the more they realize their dream of seeing Apple desktop machines updated on a yearly cycle is drifting further and further away.
Another case of where Apple confused small and/or slim with great. How many times has Apple made this mistake? Almost every time they release a product these days.
6 months to design a better Mac Pro? Hell, I could design one right now from parts on the nearest PC web site.
6 months?! We’re talking about a clunker Mac Pro released in 2013, five years ago. Waiting this long for its successor is unconscionable. They’ve literally shot off both their feet in the Pro Mac box niche.
And yes, any of us here could toss together a far more functional Mac Pro within a month, IF we didn’t worry about its visual design. And sadly, MANY people have. The Hackintosh lives on thanks most specifically to APPLE. 😛 Unbelievably bad show, apple.
This is been a really high-quality discussion, just like the old days before the #RussiaBots started chiming in on everything. Just to add a couple quick thoughts: we burned through three Mac towers over the years but are now completely standardized on iMacs and couldn’t be happier. We’ve released countless professional media projects through these hard-working droids and it’s so great the way they run quiet, cool, take less space and look really nice. Thunderbolt has replaced or need for internal cards and now that we have an excellent Mac upgrade shop just a mile away, we can get any upgrade done quickly in a day or two. If there is eventually going to be a Mac Pro upgrade, I would like to again pitch the idea of a standard rack mount form factor. That way musicians, photographers, and videographers could easily pack them into road cases along with rack-mounted I/O and storage devices, as needed Or for in-house operations they could be meshed together, perhaps with parallel processing, for some really heavy duty applications.
Apple’s deliberate AVOIDANCE of updating/revitalizing the Mac Pro is irresponsible and unforgivable IMHO. WTF is wrong with the Mac division these days?! It’s time for Apple to BREATHE, out with the bad management, in with the better new management.
Spot on take …
This pisses me off to my core! I have been saying to get rid of Pipeline Tim for years now. This is just ANOTHER of his MANY failures. I agree with everything MDN has said on this. With the money, resources and employees Apple has, to not release a new pro machine for half a decade is way beyond unacceptable. I really wish Tim was gone as the CEO and put back into some operations role. I have been waiting for YEARS to buy 2 new mac pros and a new display (which Apple hasn’t made for years)
As a CEO to 15 different corporations, I understand how to delegate tasks and keep the workforce in motion in a positive direction. Every year I meet with my various staff on the different companies and help keep the focus on our goals fro that fiscal year. This is not happening at Apple because Tim is not keeping his eye on the things Apple NEEDS. I understand the eco-system, more than most; however, the whole eco system starts with CONTENT. The content starts with people like me who make music, tv commercials, ads, graphics, web, etc.. we push the envelope to what Apple’s machines do. In fact my band uses 5-6 macs at every show (200 a year). All my corporations run on Macs. Most of my employees are on Macs.
I started a petition to remove Tim Cook as CEO
(but keep him at Apple under a different title/role)
https://www.change.org/p/apple-board-of-directors-remove-tim-cook-as-ceo-of-apple
I wrote a letter of solutions to Apple’s suggestion email, which was rejected but the person who moderates it.
Here is the list of my solutions for Apple, If I was the CEO
(and you bet this would be accomplished within 1 year)
Dear Apple,
1 – MacPro
Update the MacPro every year with any updates that exist – more ram, faster graphics, MORE I/O ( not less ), more storage, expandability and upgradability. THIS is what a PRO user wants and needs. No reason not to update this yearly. In the Q1 timeframe, a time when companies allocate funds towards equipment and the consumer market slows down. It’s not a fluke why the consumer electronics show, NAMM, auto show, etc.. all pimp new products in Jan/Feb.. now sell to them. 5 YEARS since last update.. unacceptable.
2 – Displays
No reason to blow this market off. You proudly advertise how great your retina display is, yet you ignore making a desktop one? Confusing. Make displays to compliment your MacPro and MacMini. Not to mention having a Apple logo in front of millions of users doesn’t help sustain the brand in people’s minds. 5 YEARS since last update.. unacceptable.
3 – Mac Mini
I still think this product is used and should still be made, just update it.
4 – iMac
WHY is this not a priority to Apple? Make NEW iMacs every year. Announce AND release it in Q3 for the Holiday season; and make sure you manufacturer enough to meet the demand.
5 – iPhone
Increase battery life. More innovation. Don’t neglect the 4″ size, just because Samsung made you think the world wants huge phones… not everyone does. Loose the “s”, it makes no sense on the marketing side to the consumer. And if you are going to do a whole keynote and release a new model, make sure it has more than “look how thin it is”
6 – Apple Watch
Utilize the board of directors you built on this device to help recognize heart attack and stroke symptoms before they happen. Having the watch excel in the medical and health field will reap dividends for years to come… making it a must-have product.
7 – AppleTV
The i/o again is lacking for systems that run like Control4 that needs better options for i/o.
Get the deals done with the networks to help consumers rid the stranglehold on cable companies that over-charge for a million channels.
8 – MacBook Pro
Bring back i/o!!!!
If you want to be respected as a PRO machine, allow there PROS to USE it without 1,000 cables coming out of it. Pro users do not want to deal with dongles.
9 – MacBook / MacBook Air
just give them a refresh more often than 3 years
I really don’t understand the difficulty to update these yearly, without the need for a re-design…
10 – Stock
Keep buying back diluted shares so it’s harder to be manipulated. AAPL is one of the most manipulated stocks on the market.
11- Aquisitions
Make sure what you are looking to acquire is not something Apple can achieve on it’s own with the talent within. (See Beats). And whoever is negotiating these deals needs to grow a pair and learn how to get better deals and not waste so much money on some of these companies. When I see what Apple pays for these acquisitions, I shake my head. Paying $3B for beats was a terrible decision.
Tim didn’t get the memo that Apple CREATES ecosystems and doesn’t just buy them.
If you’re gonna acquire a company, acquire Adobe; for the assets.
12 – Diversify Manufacturing
Apple needs to diversify manufacturing to more than one resource to meet the demand. Be the leader in bringing back manufacturing on a large scale back to America. Utilize China, Mexico and India to meet demand for products so the consumer can purchase the products you are advertising.
13 – Advertising
More money needs to be spent on Advertising and aggressive advertising. Apple has gotten a little weak on ads. Marketing is everything.
14 – iTunes
Fix iTunes. It’s such a pain and over-bloated. iTunes 2010 runs better than iTunes 2017… that is messed up.
15 – Software
Fix Mail. Fix spotlight. Bring back Aperture.
Allocate staff to interact with users of your software and aggressively update them based on the users input. It’s not that difficult.. the users will give you the answers to the quiz. Listen to them and your software will shine.
16 – iCloud
This is kind of embarrassing. Other companies offer better services for less money. it almost makes more sense to roll $5 – $10 more into each product and offer iCloud for free with a generous space to sustain the
user base, offering tons of services with all that content. 1TB free is what I would offer.
Get the servers out of China and on U.S. soil for security reasons.
17 – Retail
Allocate more employees to help people at the help desk. Every store I go in has 10-20 sales people, mostly talking to one another, meanwhile 2-3 tech people are backlogged with pissed off customers. This is mis-managed and can be better handled.
18 – Keynotes
Tim, step aside and let someone with passion, excitement and a great stage excitement do the keynotes. Make them count. Don’t assemble the press and your fan base to come to one of these events to tell them the new iPhone is thinner. Don’t waste everyone’s time and understand when you have the stage.. perform… sell… and if you lack things to talk about, then it should be telling to your allocation of the talent around you and how you utilized them.
19 – Apple Pay
WHY is this not being advertised like crazy? No excuse for the lazy approach to this. Advertise this everywhere. Co-Brand with world brands. Do a co-brand commercial with subway showing people buying a sandwich and paying with their phone in seconds. Show how easy and secure it is. Almost every person I tell about Apple Pay has no clue about how much more secure it is than the other choices. Even the retail staff doesn’t know. Who’s job is that to tell them? Apple! Run ads showcasing that strength.
20 – HomeKit
See how users use products like Control4 and start building the ecosystem for that. I feel this, along with CarPlay, can be a game-changer if done right. You create great things like HomeKit, yet trying to educate the consumer about it is lacking. There should a fun section on the website all about these technologies you have. Consumers should not have to dig for that info. The website and marketing should be promoting them more aggressively. This is a under utilized sector for Apple.
21 – iPad
iPad should be updated every year and announced and released Q3 for holiday quarter sales.
22 – R&D
Make sure the products are tested enough so you don’t have issues after the release (see maps, EarPods, macbook pro 2016 battery, etc.. )
23 – Fix your Christmas failures
2017 – missed releasing HomePod release for Christmas
2016 – missed AirPod inventory to sell
2015 – missed inventory on iPhone to meet demand
2014 – missed iMac inventory to sell thru Christmas
This is a ongoing problem. The date for Christmas has not changed in 2017 years.
Take around 1% of your revenue $200 – $250B and hire 50,000 workers averaging $50,000 each
and diversify them into manufacturing plants: 20,000 in the U.S., 10,000 in China, 10,000 in Mexico and
10,000 in India to meet your product demand so the cycles of the products are announced, released and
exercised in ONE financial quarter so your analytic data points are more accurate sand consumers are better served.
24 – Better communication
Way too many PR nightmare from one CEO for such a small sku product line. Throttling the iOS without
letting people know was one of the worst executions this company has ever done.. again under Tim Cook.
Those are some of my ideas.
Richard Hofherr
Simply, AWESOME …
“As a CEO to 15 different corporations, I understand how to delegate tasks and keep the workforce in motion in a positive direction.”
And, as a CEO, you have NEVER had to decide to NOT do something? You’ve never had to look at the dollars, look your team in the face and say, “Nope, folks, I know you think this is important, and sure, the dollars are there, but I’m not seeing where this adds value over the long term.” Because that’s leadership. SPEND ALL THE MONEY ON ALL THE THINGS!! is just signing checks.
Let’s say Apple has super secret information indicating that in less than 10 years, premium ultraportables is going to be the top selling computers. You, as CEO has to prepare the company for that future… you have to set yourself up that you’re already deeply invested so that when the time comes, your product stands out as an excellent value. AND you won’t EVER be the market leader, but you have to ensure that what you ARE making, you’re profitable making it. Do you still throw money at anything and everything just ‘cause the money is there? When Steve returned to Apple, he was all about cutting products, so rather than “do more just because you’ve got money” put on your CEO hat, try it again, and spend money ONLY where you absolutely need it, and cut those things you don’t. I’d be interested in your update.
And, can we all agree going forward that before you say “remove Tim Cook” one has to insert a name for potential replacement? Even a general idea of who else in the world would be better? I mean, really, anyone that should even be allowed ON the shortlist is already well known to everyone (if they’re not, then they haven’t been all THAT successful, have they?)
Hey wrong again, actually I have to make decisions daily on what moves to make and what not to make. I have a bunch of excellent people around me that work with me, and I have to decide what we implement now and what we do later. The amount of sku’s that Apple has is not very large and there is not reason for them to not update a high-end product for half a decade. They could easily take 1% of the $247B in revenue, hire a dedicated team to only focus on PRO desktop computers, hire 50,000 workers around $50,000 a year to do everything from R&D to design to manufacture. Diversify manufacturing between U.S, Mexico, China and India to be able to meet demands of products. That 1% would pay dividends to content creators/providers to the eco system. But even with that scenario, its overkill for what is needed. It is REALLY that difficult to upgrade processors, ram and I/O on a product? I believe there hackintosh guys that do this out of high school. Apple know they messed up.. they even had a meeting about it, invited the press… My issue here is what takes so long to accomplish this? This all signs of a CEO that does not know when to bust balls and make things happen. I could run Apple better than Tim does. I see value in Tim to be on the team, but not as the CEO. That list I put together is not that difficult to accomplish IF you remain focused on them. I feel Tim focuses more on watches and phones than he does of hardware. I am well aware that portable will outsell hardware, but Apple has the revenue to appease both sides.. they are just not doing so. Just look at the beats acquisition as a microcosm of the decision making at Apple… when Apple THINKS they are gonna get a leg up by acquiring beats for the “talent” within??? then they really underestimate the true value of themselves. They are APPLE! They could EASILY put a advisory board together of important music moguls for a fraction of the cost. And don’t tell me the acquisition was for the headphones.. Apple was already making headphones.. they could have just allocated more R&D and marketing to them, created a new product, hyped it and blew beats away. But allocation of BILLIONS for headphones? Ever read all the articles about all these guys jumping ship and laughing their asses off.. they even made a movie about how messed up that was.. clearly, BAD decision making at Apple. Let’s discuss Christmas, ya know that holiday that hasn’t changed dates in 2018 years and glorified with consumer goods for at least the last 50 years. How can Apple MISS product releases for the past 4-5 Christmas seasons?? HOW???? BAD leadership!!!! iMac, HomePod, AirPod, etc.. All MISSED the holiday selling period.. HOW??? WHY??? Bad leadership!
I wanna say one more thing, I am well aware you might think I’m just some guy who is a complainer. I am far from that. In fact I urge people to BUY APPL weekly on my FB because I firmly believe in Apple. I am just overly frustrated with how they growth crawls at a lazy pace. There really is no excuse for that. I always understood Steve Jobs very well. I am a lot like him when it comes to decision making. I always understood his vision and I could fill int he blanks of what he said and did not say. I could see, hear and feel his passion for everything he did. When I watch the results of Tim, they lack so many things. There are so many things that are lacking, that can be improved. I wish I would see better results from Apple in multiple areas. This is something I never said 10 years ago. I will watch the keynote later today and I hope something surprises me. There was a time when a keynote ended and I was super excited on the path I saw Apple was taking.. lately, it’s SO misguided that it’s hard fro me to keep biting my lip over it. I wanna speak out and I hope it changes and I hope others feel that way I do.
You’re on a roll, expertly stayed and I agree with you. Cook needs to go back to operations management and Apple needs a creative CEO once again. Fingers crossed ..,
As a CEO, you can’t possibly have “appeased both sides” ALL the time. And, for the side you didn’t take, they likely FINALLY realized, maybe even YEARS later, that it was the right decision.
“you might think I’m just some guy who is a complainer.”
Nope, I think you’re a successful CEO that has had to make hard decisions for each of those 15 companies you led. More than likely, those decisions included a degree of emotional detachment because one can’t make really good decisions if you let your emotions rule over your logic. Your emotional attachment to Apple’s desktop past could be preventing you from seeing the mad race, among ALL computing companies, for the ultraportable premium market future. (It’s no accident that ARM just recently released a reference 64-bit architecture.)
We see other companies LOCKED into having to produce faster and faster desktop hardware because those other companies have no other option if they want to keep making money in the near term while they figure it out how to enter the future profitably. Apple has figured a LOT of it out and is making the most money in the mobile area already. So… they don’t have to, and haven’t been, relying on desktop hardware for years.
“Your emotional attachment to Apple’s desktop past could be preventing you from seeing the mad race, among ALL computing companies, for the ultraportable premium market future.”
I find this paragraph both offensive to the millions of Pros that stuck with Apple through thick and thin since the early days. I also find it opinionated, which is fine, but factually incorrect.
Post after post you keep pimping the meme that the iPad or ultra whatever is the future of PRO computing.
Ok, as the say in Missouri — show me? SHOW ME NOW, SHOW ME TODAY!
Does the CURRENT bestest fully loaded iPad or MacBookPro process multiple streams of 4K video, render complete Maya animations with terabytes of data, crunch 50 databases or more to render shapefiles in ArcView GIS, batch process 100 Raw Photos in Photoshop using a custom Action with one keystroke?
Let’s see, No way Jose, ditto, ditto, and not even close.
The day to day reality for CEOs and millions of Pros like me is to make purchasing decisions, NOW IN THE REAL WORLD, to get work done. One thing is for certain, PCs do it better, not Apple. Gawd, that really hurts.
Listen up C, we have to get work done today, not tomorrow or next week. Not wait breathlessly for an idealistic pipe dream that may or may not materialize for decades. Got it?
Now please stop insulting the pros over and over. You are as bad as Apple ignoring us, taking us for granted, and totally tone deaf to our needs. Damn the numbers! …
Well, there IS an emotional attachment for the CEO. A LOT of people have emotional attachment to things. If you have a passion for what you do, it’s hard NOT to have an emotional attachment for those things that help to make it happen. But, it’s also true that you have to look beyond that emotional attachment to make good decisions. That’s true.
What’s false is that premium ultraportables are the future of PRO computing. They’re not. But, then again, I didn’t say that 🙂 What’s true is that premium ultraportables are the ONLY PC market that’s going to grow this year. And, it’s the only segment expected to grow in the future.
“Does the CURRENT bestest fully loaded iPad or MacBookPro…with one keystroke?”
No. That is also a fact!
“One thing is for certain, PCs do it better, not Apple. Gawd, that really hurts.”
It appears that the CEO is not the only person with an emotional attachment! Facts don’t hurt, facts are facts. If I need the ULTIMATE in flexibility, and expandability, something that’s not offered in any current and likely future Mac… if that’s what’s required for me to be successful… I shouldn’t choose a Mac. To choose a Mac under those requirements would not follow logic. And, my business may suffer for it.
“wait breathlessly for an idealistic pipe dream”
Like the infinitely configurable expandable world-beating Mac Pro? I agree! And I’ve been helping people migrate to more suitable systems for I think a little over 8 years now. In the back of my mind was always the thought that “What if Apple turns around in the next year? Am I talking them through this too early?” It turns out, I was actually probably a little too late.
This year, probably more than any other, Apple has been communicating very clearly where they see their future. And, it’s time for people to set aside their emotions and start thinking about whether or not their future aligns with Apple’s.
You don’t get it. You will never get it.
No matter how many times you repeat the word “emotion” it has NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! That is Libtard virtue signaling doublespeak and totally USELESS.
Painfully obvious you are NOT A PRO USER and have ZERO EMPATHY for the community …
Wrong again, A good leader does what is the right move for the company, and NOT what garners votes. I am very good at making non-emotional decisions. I am well aware of the evolvement of the computer desktop world; which is a fragment of Apple’s ecosystem, however the PRO market STILL relies on Mac for high end audio, video, graphics, etc.. ya know, that CONTENT that drives the ecosystem. MDN assessment is so deadly accurate. With the cash flow and money on hand at Apple, there is no excuse for the lack up updates to their small sku count.
While we can appreciate your attempt to be logical and factual, that does not apply to Wrong Again …
“move for the company, and NOT what garners votes”
Right, and that means that there will sometimes be some VERY popular things among your employees, your shareholders, or even your customers that you know should NOT be done. A good CEO cannot appease all sides, all the time. If you’ve never been put in a situation where you have to piss off a group for the betterment of the company, then you’re fortunate.
“there is no excuse”
No, there is ABSOLUTELY no excuse. What a lot of people don’t want to believe that it has been and is Apple’s long range business plan to leave the Mac Pro un-updated. So, even though there is NO excuse, some will make excuses like “Apple was so consumed by The Colossal Distraction (Apple Park) that even such obvious issues fell through the cracks”. Even though that’s OBVIOUSLY not the case because Apple was able to PLENTY other things while building Apple Park, including open/update retail stores around the world, update mobile devices yearly, heck EVEN UPDATE IWORK! To Apple, the company, these other things they somehow managed to focus on are MORE important than the Mac Pro.
The alternative isn’t that Apple’s management team has become so fat and lazy without Steve Jobs to drive them. That’s also an excuse. They let the Mac languish for half a decade because it’s what they wanted to do. It was in their long range business plan.
“What a lot of people don’t want to believe that it has been and is Apple’s long range business plan to leave the Mac Pro un-updated.”
Yeah, where is your proof? Apple by all accounts hired a focus group and promised a MacPro.
We pros don’t care for your maligned OPINION sonny boy. Mom is calling, come out of the basement for your grilled cheese and tomato soup …
“Yeah, where is your proof?”
Where is my proof that Apple _didn’t_ update the Mac Pro for the last few years? Is this the universe where Apple kept the Mac Pro updated? Because I was sure we all agreed that the Mac Pro hasn’t seen a redesign since 2013!!
MacPro HATE …
I wanna point out 3 other important things on this matter.
1 – Pro Audio
Avid is just as bad as Apple with updates and listening to their customers needs. So I have to hold 2 pro systems in our recording studio. A HD3 and HDX2. The HD3 lives in the cheese grater mac pro tower and works fine, just out of date plugs and 32 bit. The 2013 Mac Pro ($7,000) was over priced, lacks storage and now I need to host 2 HDX cards inside a chassis system thru Thunderbolt. This is now a pain in the ass. A $7,000 system can’t hold $15,000 in audio cards, so I need to purchase another $800 box. The $7,000 system can’t hold enough storage, so I need to buy another $1,000+ box to accomplish storage. We can’t even get a decent amount of storage for a PRO machine? Pro aren’t saving pictures of their family on them, we are making professional music and video files; which eat a TON of storage space. And how can you blame the audio industry, when Apple hasn’t even implemented Thunderbolt 3 into their own “pro” machine? I have to blame Apple for this mess. My friends in Chicago, Nashville, LA and NY are all pissed off over Apple’s lazy approach to this. Not only does it slow down developers in the audio field, it also slows down creators as well. A simple solution = allocate 100-1,000 employees to nothing my PRO machines. Interact with users. Learn from them. They will give you answers to the quiz. Build a NEW device, that is updated every year (Jan).
2 – Video/Graphic – Adobe
Apple should have not purchased beats (which was a waste of money), they should have acquired Adobe and fixed that company as well. Again, works with your content creators. Pro users need powerful graphical cards for video and graphic needs. Owning Adobe would have helped Apple know what they need to build and improve upon itself.
3 – Dongles – My travel MacBook Pro is a terrible. Such a HUGE pain to have to make sure I bring every dongle known to man with me when I travel because Apple couldn’t add some basic I/O that PRO users NEED. Again, just another one of many examples of bad decision making at Apple. Save the nifty 1 plug and simplicity for the consumer side. The pro sides doesn’t care of cute and simplicity.. we need and want productivity.. and plugging 5 dongles to a “pro” machine creates the reality that this is far from a “pro” machine.. in fact, it is more like amateur hour in the R&D of it. Want to create a New I/O???? EVOLVE it… again.. another failure under Tim’s leadership…
SO disappointed